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Important Changes to Employer Compliance Requirements for Non-LMIA Work Permits
by Benjamin A. Kranc
In February of this year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada introduced a procedure whereby employers were required to submit, in advance of the filing of any non-LMIA work permit application, ‘employer compliance’ documentation. This is carried out by way of submission of the ‘IMM5802' form, which sets out information necessary to establish the legal basis for the LMIA exemption request. Employers also needed to start paying a fee or $230.
Now, further changes are in store with regard to this requirement.
[LMIAs are ‘Labour Market Impact Assessments’, a procedure whereby foreign workers can be recruited only after an employer carries out substantial recruitment activity, and files an application for approval. Non-LMIA work permits include intra-company transferees, NAFTA or other professionals, and all further types of applications where no evidence of recruitment in Canada is necessary.]Effective October 26, the current system of submitting the IMM5802 via a specified email address will become obsolete. Rather, employers will need to log in to a new ‘Employer Portal’ (which is as yet unavailable), and carry out necessary activity there. As a bridging measure, IMM5802s will still be accepted with work permit applications submitted up to Nov. 20, 2015, but thereafter, only the employer portal method will be available. Where an IMM5802 was filed on or prior to Nov. 20, but the application is being made on November 21 or later, the employer will need to resubmit via the portal.
To date, no specifics have been provided with regard to the Employer Portal, vis-à-vis access, functionality, requirements for use, or otherwise. Certainly, we will apprise readers once information becomes available. In the interim, employers who are aware that employees will be seeking work permits on or after November 21, should be aware that they will need to utilize the new system, and that the IMM5802 form will no longer be accepted.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.
This post originally appeared on Kranc Associates. Reprinted with permission.
About The Author
Benjamin A. Kranc is senior principal of Kranc Associates, a leading Canadian corporate immigration law firm. He has many years of experience assisting clients in connection with Canadian immigration and business issues. Ben is certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Immigration Law. He is also on the ‘Who’s Who Legal’ list of foremost practitioners in Canadian corporate immigration, as well as rated as AV Preeminent® in a Martindale-Hubbell peer review. Ben has spoken at numerous conferences, seminars, and information sessions – both for professional organizations and private groups – about issues in Canadian immigration law, and has also taught immigration law at Seneca College in Toronto. In addition, Ben has written extensively. He is the author of a leading text on Canadian immigration law entitled “North American Relocation Law” (Thomson Reuters) and contributing immigration author to the “The Human Resources Advisor” (First Reference Books). Ben can be contacted at (416) 977-7500 ext. 226, or bkranc@kranclaw.com.
